Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 261-283).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [429]-461).

Thesis (M.Sc. (Palaeoarchaeology))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Science, 2003 / This project was inspired by the identification of 108 bone tools (dated roughly to between 2 and 1 Mya) from sites in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, Gauteng. An experimental study was lUldertaken in an attempt to answer the basic question of "what caused modification marks on early hominid bone tools?" Five experimental tools were used in each of seven different task oriented experiments. The purpose of this project was to broaden the existing database of experimentally employed bone tools and the associated process-pattern relationships. Analysis was based on an optical comparison of primarily microscopically, but also macroscopically visible usewear patterns observed on the experimental tools. The experimental data were then used to make inferences on a middle range theoretical level regarding the use of the fossil specimens and comment on the currently held opinions.

The development of grinding technology is a topic that has not received much attention from archaeologists in the American Southwest. Presented here is a technological approach to ground stone analysis capitalizing on the methods of ethnoarchaeology, experimentation, and use-wear analysis. These methods are applied to an existing collection of ground stone artifacts amassed by the University of Arizona field school's excavation of the Point of Pines sites in east-central Arizona. The heart of the technological approach is the recognition that technological behavior is social behavior and as such is culturally distinct. Both puebloan and nonpuebloan ethnographies provide models for understanding how ground stone tools were used by different cultural groups in daily activities and for making inferences about gender-specific behaviors. Culturally distinct behaviors are sustained through technological traditions, defined as the transmitted knowledge and behaviors with which people learn how to do things. A technological approach is applied to the ground stone assemblages from nine Point of Pines sites that date within eight phases, from A.D. 400 to A.D. 1425-1450. The assemblages are compared and assessed in terms of variation that might reflect developments in grinding technology. Developments may have derived from local innovations or from introduced technological traditions. Assemblage variation is evaluated in light of major events in Point of Pines prehistory, particularly the change from pit house villages to pueblo villages and the immigration of Tusayan Anasazi. Point of Pines grinding technology continued relatively unchanged until late in the occupation. Around the mid-1200s, an Anasazi group immigrated to the Point of Pines area and took up residence in the largest Point of Pines pueblo. Foreign technology was introduced but not immediately adopted by the resident Mogollon. Food grinding equipment of two different designs coexisted for about 100 years, until around A.D. 1400 when there is evidence of a change in the social organization of food grinding. It is this change that signals the blending of Mogollon and Anasazi into Western Pueblo.

This dissertation is concerned with the analysis of selected blade assemblages from Late Devensian and Early Flandrian contexts in Southern Britain (c. 12,500 - 9,000 BP). The British sites studied are divided into three main groupings: Upper Palaeolithic, Long Blade, and Mesolithic, each of which contains material of a typologically and technologically distinct nature. Despite previous important studies in the British Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic, no major work until now has been undertaken on the third technology, that of the Long Blade sites, which seems to occupy a chronological position intermediate between the other two. The dissertation incorporates the first comprehensive description of material from Long Blade sites and contrasts it with the sets of artefacts from the other two groups. Comparative data from the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic derive mainly from primary information recovered in two excavations directed by myself at Hengistbury Head between 1980-4. The chapters consider the archaeological material in chronological order beginning in Chapter 1 with the Late Upper Palaeolithic assemblage from Hengistbury Head. Chapters 2 and 3 are devoted to the Long Blade assemblages from Britain and Northwestern Europe, whilst in the fourth chapter the Early Mesolithic material from Hengistbury and related sites in Southern Britain is considered. The fifth and last chapter is given over to discussion and final conclusions. Appended to the last chapter is a gazetteer of 159 specified Long Blade findspots in Southern Britain, the first time this material has ever been gathered together. Explanatory notes and a key are provided at the front of the Gazetteer. In studying the artefacts I have laid particular emphasis on technology as well as typology, and in studying technology I have been particularly influenced by my own work on the experimental manufacture and use of implements. Given that my two excavated sites were very little disturbed, I have also been able to make major use of conjoining artefacts, not only as an aid to understanding the differing techniques of artefact manufacture, but also in interpreting the archaeology of the sites. Some use was also made of experimental taphonomy. These aspects of my work are referred to in the text, notably in Chapters 1 and 4.

While ground stone tools represent diverse activities, the technology is analyzed at a coarse level in the Pacific Northwest. Conducting more detailed analyses of ground stone assemblages can inform on regional Indigenous raw material knowledge, resource use, and tool manufacturing and maintenance practices. In this thesis I addressed questions regarding ground stone technology, including manufacturing time investments, tool recycling, and how ground stone tools were used through the application of experimental tool replication, use studies, and in depth analyses. I replicated tools that are common in the region, including a banded and notched net weight, a maul, two bowls, and a pestle. The replicated tools were all produced with raw materials collected from nearby sources and all ground stone tools were manufactured with cobble choppers. I conducted use wear studies in two phases to examine the impacts of processing both hard and soft materials using the replicated bowl and pestle. The tools underwent an in-depth analysis before and after manufacture and the use wear study to assess manufacturing and use wear attributes. The experimental replications and use study resulted in associating specific attributes with known activities and actions. These insights were then applied to the analysis of ground stone artifacts from the 35CO2 Rylander assemblage, a private artifact collection from a contact-period archaeological site located in the Lower Columbia. I was able to identify manufacturing and use wear attributes to further explore how the ground stone tools were manufactured, used, and maintained. Additionally, I demonstrated a strong relationship between raw material selection, time investment, and tool recycling in the region through the experimental studies and comparative analysis with the Rylander assemblage. Furthermore, this study highlights the need for more robust ground stone analysis standards. Analyses that include in-depth examination at the attribute level will help expand our understanding of ground stone tool technology. Employing standardized vocabulary, terminology, and referencing attributes in photomicrographs builds more comparable datasets, giving researchers valuable insights into skill level, specialization, and time investment associated with ground stone technology.

This thesis examines a lithic assemblage from Cat�s Eye Point (J42/4), Kakanui, North Otago, New Zealand. This archaic site was excavated during 1996 and 1997 and the lithic assemblage was collected from 41m� excavated during these two seasons. Previous studies of lithic material from New Zealand and the Pacific are reviewed to indicate the range of information that can be gained from lithic analysis. Themes of research in the North Otago region are also examined to place Cat�s Eye Point into its regional context. This thesis had three main areas of investigation. The first involved a descriptive and technological analysis of the debitage using mass flake analysis (MFA) and individual flake analysis (IFA). Formal artefacts, such as hammerstones, blanks, and performs, were also examined. Secondly, spatial analysis was used to determine if the lithic assemblage could be used to infer intra-site activity areas. This was conducted by analysing macro- (flakes larger than 3mm) and microdebitage (flakes less than 3mm) by examining the range of material types. The third area of investigation examined debitage recovered from 6.4mm (1/4 inch) and 3.2mm (1/8 inch) sieves to determine if any significant technological information was gained by debitage from the 3.2mm sieve. The conclusions of this study indicate that there were two methods of basalt cobble reduction at Cat�s Eye Point for adze production. Adze production at Cat�s Eye Point was opportunistic and the non-local material curated. The results of the debitage analysis indicate that the entire sequence of adze manufacture did not occur in the excavated area of Cat�s Eye Point and the initial cobble reduction probably occurred on the adjacent beach where the cobbles are found today. Consequently, coastal rock outcrops, even without evidence of associated debitage, must be viewed as potential sources of rock for stone tool manufacture unless determined otherwise. The spatial analysis detected two activity areas and a disposal area at Cat�s Eye Point. The analysis of the 6.4mm and 3.2mm debitage found that no significant technological information was gained by examining the smaller flakes.

Thesis (M.A in anthropology)--Washington State University, December 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-105)

The studies described here introduce a model for residue preservation on stone tools. They simulate stone tool manufacture in order to define parameters important for the study of DNA residues. Microscopic examination of stone tools has identified microcracks that trap DNA and protein from animal blood cells. Thorough investigation of different methods to recover residues from stone tools shows that surface washing leaves DNA and protein, trapped in subsurface microcracks. However, other extraction techniques are able to release 60-80% of DNA and protein residues. Previous research documents the identification of protein from stone tools sonicated in 5% ammonium hydroxide, but it remains untested whether the same treatment yields useable DNA. Using this treatment, I identified 13-year-old DNA residues from experimentally manufactured stone tools. In addition, results clearly indicate that washing procedures typically used to curate stone tools removed only a small fraction of the DNA deposited during animal butchery. Twenty-four pieces of chipped stone recovered from the Bugas-Holding site were studied to explore the validity of ancient DNA residue identifications. Nine tools yielded DNA residues. Modern humans did not touch three of these tools, which suggests that the DNA recovered from them was present prior to excavation. One tool, which was handled by excavators without gloves, harbored DNA from three species, and these templates competed during PCR. On at least two tools, handling after excavation introduced animal DNA unrelated to tool use. Careful testing of Bugas-Holding chipped stone suggests that stone tools may harbor both ancient and modern DNA, and that investigators must take great care to exclude modern DNA from ancient specimens. Ultimately, I developed and streamlined a method to analyze DNA-containing residues preserved on stone tools. This led to several technical improvements in ancient DNA residue analysis. These include a more effective DNA recovery protocol, methods to measure sensitivity and inhibition of PCR in each sample, and strategies to surmount competition between templates during amplification, which can occur in samples that contain DNA from multiple species. These new developments will help future investigators achieve the full potential of ancient DNA residue analysis. / Graduation date: 2003

Thesis (M.S.) in Quaternary Studies--University of Maine, 2002. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-208).